A pro-Palestinian mural in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The country's Houthi rebels have said they will target Israeli-linked ships. EPA
A pro-Palestinian mural in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The country's Houthi rebels have said they will target Israeli-linked ships. EPA
A pro-Palestinian mural in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The country's Houthi rebels have said they will target Israeli-linked ships. EPA
A pro-Palestinian mural in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. The country's Houthi rebels have said they will target Israeli-linked ships. EPA


Houthis remain a wildcard in the Israel-Gaza war


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November 21, 2023

As the devastating Israel-Gaza war continues, numerous diplomats and analysts have taken to warning of the risks of the violence spilling over into a regional conflict. Those warnings have become increasingly belated by the day.

One need only look at Yemen, 2,000km from the fighting in Gaza, to see that a dangerous and unpredictable escalation is already taking place. On Sunday, the Iran-backed Houthis seized what they claimed was an Israeli cargo ship in the southern Red Sea. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later described the ship as an “international vessel,” adding that it was British-owned and Japanese-operated. Despite the claim and counter claim, the incident is just the latest in a string of events that not only raises serious questions about security in this strategic waterway but also shows that the conflict is playing out far from Palestine and Israel.

Not content with menacing marine traffic in the Red Sea, the Houthis have also launched drones and missiles towards Israel, some of them travelling through Saudi airspace. This produced a military response by Israel, which stationed Saar-class missile boats near the port of Eilat. These attacks demonstrate the organisation’s increased technical ability – up until the end of 2018, the Houthis frequently used ballistic missiles they captured from army depots. But in the past five years, they have shifted to small, long-range, explosive unmanned aircraft that can evade radar detection – a development that increases the capability for escalation.

Yemenis sit in front of mock Houthi-made drones and missiles in Sanaa on November 7. Over the past five years, the rebels have shifted to small, long-range, explosive unmanned aircraft that can evade radar detection. EPA
Yemenis sit in front of mock Houthi-made drones and missiles in Sanaa on November 7. Over the past five years, the rebels have shifted to small, long-range, explosive unmanned aircraft that can evade radar detection. EPA

This presents some serious questions for those who not only want to see the Israel-Gaza conflict end immediately, but who also value stability in the Gulf. So far, none of the Houthis’ weapons have found their mark, having been intercepted en route. But not much imagination is required to understand what might happen if a missile or drone were to strike Eilat or a city deeper inside Israel. The risk of miscalculation is already apparent – explosions blamed on Houthi drones were reported in two Egyptian towns last month, and Syria and Lebanon already bear the scars of Israeli retaliation for the actions of proxies on their soil.

There are reasons to think that the scale of the Houthi launches do not represent an all-out attack on Israel. Aside from their limited number, the Houthi assaults are taking place amid a backdrop of serious talks with Saudi Arabia about reaching a peace deal that would solidify the current year-long truce in the war-torn country. Whether the militant movement wants to jeopardise a rapprochement with Riyadh is questionable – the potential gains for the movement and the Yemeni people from a longer, more stable period of peace are many. Nevertheless, the rebels are still something of a wildcard in the deadly events that are currently unfolding in the Middle East.

All this points towards one thing – the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The longer the conflict drags on, the greater the likelihood of a misstep that could have even more serious consequences. This concern was articulated before regional decision-makers at the weekend when Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, warned attendees at the Manama Dialogue that the longer the Israel-Gaza conflict continues “the higher the risks are that the war will spread regionally and that the current violence will only breed more violence and fuel greater radicalisation in the region”.

Complicating the picture is the reality that the Houthis are not the only proxy group operating in the Middle East – a string of recent attacks on US forces by Iran-aligned militias in Syria and Iraq are another reminder that the Gaza-Israel conflict is finding expression elsewhere in the region.

Stopping the fighting now, getting humanitarian aid to Gaza’s people, securing the release of hostages and prisoners, and giving negotiators a chance to broker a longer-term deal will prevent those with their own agendas – often a desire to simply declare their relevance – from fanning the flames of war even further.

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THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

HIV on the rise in the region

A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.

New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.

Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.

Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.  

Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.

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6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $49,000 (Dirt) 1,900m

Winner RB Frynchh Dude, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)

7.05pm Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (D) 1,900m

Winner El Patriota, Vagner Leal, Antonio Cintra

7.40pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,000m

Winner Ya Hayati, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby

8.15pm Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m

Winner Althiqa, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby

8.50pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Soft Whisper, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

9.25pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (T) 1,600m

Winner Bedouin’s Story, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

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Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles

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50-man Royal Rumble

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho

John Cena v Triple H

Matches to be announced

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England

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur

Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

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Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

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While you're here
Three-day coronation

Royal purification

The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.

The crown

Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.

The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.

The audience

On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.

The procession

The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.

Meet the people

On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.

RESULTS

Mumbai Indians 181-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata Knight Riders 168-6 (20ovs)

Mumbai won by 13 runs

Rajasthan Royals 152-9 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 155-4 (18.4 ovs)

Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets

Updated: November 21, 2023, 10:38 AM`